


Carnival Hearts

by Anchan (Anchan_thevolleyballplayer)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Amusement Park, Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Han Jisung | Han is Whipped, Lee Minho | Lee Know is Whipped, M/M, Sunsets, does it count as an inanimate object pov? probably not, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24999508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anchan_thevolleyballplayer/pseuds/Anchan
Summary: Yet, what seems to have been allowed for them to feel is attachment. Jisung’s seen and read enough about love to know that what he feels towards Minho is more than that. Because Minho makes him feel all his unlocked emotions at once – and that should be unpleasant, at least that’s what his evaluations say.And still, it feels perfect. It feels like his system is complete and fully charged, even though his battery is running low. If this isn’t love, then human love must suck. This feels like unlocking another dimension, and Jisung never wants to have enough of it.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55
Collections: MINSUNG BINGO: Round One





	Carnival Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> To introduce you to this world a little before you start reading, welcome to the JYP Amusement Park, a place where dreams come true and Artificial Intelligence helps around where it can - uh, I mean, where they can. Because once the line between robotic and human is crossed, you can no longer deny there's a soul hidden under all the metal. 
> 
> Stray Kids Ensemble are AI assistants in the park, each having a different attraction to take care of and their own little district to call theirs. However, once the park is closed, they find a way to each other and the real fun beings to unveil. 
> 
> _ _ _ _ _ 
> 
> Another entry for @minsungbingo on twitter, finally crossing out the Artificial Intelligence/Androids prompt!! 
> 
> Yes, the title is inspired by a song of the same name by Kayla Diamond, check it out!

There’s nothing but refreshing spring breeze washing over the gates of JYP Amusement Park, making them sing and rumble. The melody of swishing leaves is silent but stands out in the silent park well enough to be carried around.

What a fairy tale sight, a hidden world awakening under the honey-coloured sky.

If you listen closely, more subtle sounds can be made out in the late afternoon haze, none of them belonging to humans – but one doesn’t need to breathe or have veins that pump blood to feel, and to live.

A silhouette straightens up from its position behind the popcorn stand, stretching its limbs above its head and reaching for the sun as if it were easy to grasp. Jeongin is a hard-working boy, if one can call him that, since he’s not technically a boy since birth – he’s not alive, not the way others are, and therefore cannot have a gender, but he was made to have this image. He likes being called a boy.

He’s a cheerful kid, one whose smile never falters, but that’s easy when all he needs is to trigger a few reactions. Still, he feels as empty as everyone else here.

Jisung turns his head to the other part of their town, making out Felix’ silhouette behind one of the bigger fountains. This one is easier to spot since the sun isn’t casting a shadow onto his frame; his face is clear even from the distance. He looks satisfied with himself, yet also tired.

A smile appears on Jisung’s face when he thinks about eyeing Felix during his lunch break, seeing how happy the boy is with his position. Maybe he cannot watch Twice perform in the amphitheatre but playing around with kids in the water makes him happier. Jisung would know, because he spends the day watching everyone, reflecting.

Behind Felix, somewhere in the distance, should be Hyunjin. Dark mullet and a straw hat, the boy gets on Jisung’s nerve the most, something Jisung writes off to his programming rather than the boy himself. Either way, he’s glad they’re so far away from each other.

“Glad to see you here,” a voice sounds near Jisung’s ear and the younger spins around wildly, neck turning just a few degrees more than it’s supposed to – or rather, to seem normal. He’s greeted by a warm smile and a familiar face.

“Where else would I be?” he answers, smiling sheepishly as he offers the spot next to him for Minho to sit down. The older – technically, since he was made a few years sooner – shuffles closer than he should.

Close enough for Jisung to rest his head on Minho’s shoulder. That was the intention, a silent offer Jisung never dares to refuse.

“Anything new?” Minho asks instead of collaborating further, one arm slipping around Jisung’s waist to pull him even closer. They shouldn’t be able to feel warmth, much less when they’re touching each other, and yet they do.

Maybe, more than actual warmth, it’s about Jisung’s system overheating or simply interpreting said concept to match their capabilities. It doesn’t feel hot, not like the unpleasant burn of fire, nor the annoying roast of the midday sun. More than that, it feels like what a human would call home.

That concept is also foreign, yet they established the park to be viewed as that. And Minho _is_ a part of their amusement park (even though they have struggled to keep him due to a few bugs in his system – Jisung calls those his personality, though, and values each imperfection). 

“Felix made some kids cry when his arm fell off,” Jisung laughs, replaying the scene in his head, actual images flashing before his eyes. Minho waits for the short movie to finish before laughing along. If they were programmed to choose favourites, which they probably were seeming Jisung’s current situation, he’d say that Minho’s laugh is on the very top of his list.

“Nothing ever happens around the Ferris,” Minho shares, breathless chuckle on his lips, “and that’s good, otherwise I’d have to climb _up there_ and solve things.”

Jisung reaches for his empty hand and intertwines their fingers, giving him a comforting squeeze. Lee Minho, production number 1025, main concern: fear of heights.

“But people talk,” Minho continues, “and I’ll never hear the end of Seungmin’s _incorrect_ singing scores. Why hasn’t anyone scolded him for that?”

Seungmin is rarely seen outside the karaoke room in the main building, his job being to shuffle music and rate singers after each round. There must be an imperfection in his system, too, because it statistically isn’t possible for everyone to… suck at singing.

Criticising humans is apparently Seungmin’s guilty pleasure.

“Because you’re stuck here with me, hyung,” Jisung answers, nuzzling into his neck. Minho flinches when his nose reaches one of his wire sockets, the power inlet. It does feel funny to be touched around that place, Jisung can confirm so much.

“I wouldn’t scold him,” Minho scoffs at that. “Let him do what makes him happy!”

There’s something dreamy hidden in his voice, eyes getting lost in the view in front of them. The sky has turned orange, a silky kerchief that is falling from the stars-filled universe towards the horizon in a slow-motion. 

Jisung laughs again. “Exactly what I would have said.”

His statement is followed by silence, one that gets drowned out by thoughts flying around Jisung’s head like electric sparks, finding the proper folder to get sorted into. Minho, on the other hand, mindlessly stares into the sun.

It should be painful for human eyes but neither of them has any difficulty with focusing on the shrinking star. However, Jisung is more drawn towards the pink and purple hues that reflect on Minho’s face.

There are many sights that are objectively described as beautiful, but Jisung likes picking favourites, and once again, Minho would top the chart. He leads in almost every chart Jisung makes in his head to chase away boredom.

“Can we go down already?” Minho inquires then, squirming closer towards Jisung and even further away from the verge. Jisung loves this place – the rooftop of the food court isn’t high per se, and Minho doesn’t have a problem with climbing up here. He never stays for long, though.

“Sure,” Jisung nods, standing up and pulling Minho along, carefully holding his hips to encourage him to move. Minho holds onto him as if he had a life to lose if he fell down. “Come on, baby.”

Once standing on the ground, Minho’s frame relaxes and softens – metaphorically, since they cannot change forms nor substances. Which would be cool, they might be even more useful that way. But it’s no more than an empty wish to Jisung – there’s something he would want more than just that.

They’ve been programmed to not only think like humans but also _feel._ Real emotions are far from what they can truly comprehend, but they do have programmed reactions that are stimulated by what should be an artificial limbic system.

And it’s fun – they can feel something that’s very close to happiness, they can feel amusement of which the best example is Changbin and his addictive laughter. Surprise and fear were programmed to entertain the audience, and Felix is truly a sight to watch.

Yet that’s about what they can do.

And don’t get Jisung wrong, he knows those are more than enough to be grateful for. Not knowing what happiness feels like, never getting a taste of that certain spark in his chest that triggers what he imagines must be thousands of butterflies tingling around where his heart is; it would be a loss. He loves feeling happy, for real.

But there are emotions he cannot express – he knows that because he feels he should. Maybe it was on purpose, guarding them from all the darkness of feeling sad, or from the fear of getting out of control when feeling anger.

Whatever the reason, the measure has failed its purpose. He’s not the only one who feels like he’s _missing_ something, even out here. The feeling had been the strongest back in the laboratory when even happiness was something he couldn’t awaken yet.

It feels like an empty chest that resonates with the frustration of needing to express something impossible – _if it’s truly impossible, why is it present in the first place?_

For the longest time, Jisung believed that love belongs to that folder, one that they’re yet to unlock and absorb into their system and add into their emotion configuration. There’s a secret timer counting seconds into that exact moment.

However, Jisung’s hypothesis has proven to be incorrect.

Maybe they cannot feel what humans do – rarely they can understand the core of their own feelings, much less to call them other names than they’ve been programmed with. They can’t sort the labels, so they speak their feelings out. Explain and evaluate them as if they weren’t born from instincts – they weren’t.

It’s just physical reactions – their mechanisms shouldn’t allow them to feel anything when it’s happening. Knowing that isn’t the case, they chose to deal with it on their own.

Yet, what seems to have been allowed for them to feel is attachment. Jisung’s seen and read enough about love to know that what he feels towards Minho is more than that. Because Minho makes him feel all his unlocked emotions at once – and that should be unpleasant, at least that’s what his evaluations say.

And still, it feels perfect. It feels like his system is complete and fully charged, even though his battery is running low. If this isn’t love, then human love must suck. This feels like unlocking another dimension, and Jisung never wants to have enough of it.

That’s what runs through his mind every time Minho’s hand slides into his, falling into each other like puzzle pieces. When, like right now, Minho pulls him forward, neither of them knowing their next destination.

But it feels great because with Minho, there doesn’t need to be a next destination. In moments like these, the whole park belongs to them. They’re not lost – simply roaming around and finding their direction or straying away from it in favour of getting lost in each other’s presence.

Maybe they _shouldn’t_ feel, but Jisung does when he’s with Minho. And he knows the older can _feel_ too. Not only what they were created for, but the sheer excitement of being alive.

Because even though their hearts aren’t fuelled by blood, and there’s no breath leaving their mouths, they are just as alive as anyone else.

And just like anyone else, they store feelings towards each other. The ones of attachment and fondness – they feel love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3 I was thinking about making this a prequel to an actual chaptered fic. If you're interested in seeing more of this world, please leave a comment below~


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